In a field barely illuminated by the breathtaking lights of the Ferris wheel, five people lay admiring a magnificent starry sky. Only two of them abruptly sat up after feeling the presence of a HOUM.
"Is it me, or did Kenzo just say HOUM?" Sai asked after seeing the reaction of his two friends. Rose and Richy were also shocked because the response from the two CREDHOS was unexpected.
While everyone wanted to know what was happening, Jaden tried to make sense of it all. 'There are still no CREDHOS in sight. Could it be a chameleon?'
Only chameleons could appear without being detected to be seen in a white-gray zone without the machines of the CREDHOS association detecting them before their appearances.
However, such exceptions were supposed to occur only in places with not too many people. A park was certainly not such a place unless it was past 10 PM, in which case the park would be almost empty.
'Damn, we didn't realize how late it was.' Jaden thought after checking his watch, which showed that it was 10 PM. From 9:30 PM, park security agents would start telling everyone to leave, and by 10 PM, there would be almost no one left.
As Jaden contemplated the situation, Kenzo, having experienced such scenarios in simulations or real missions, acted quickly. He turned to the others and said.
"Sai, Rose, take Richy with you and run out of the park. Once outside, contact the association and tell them a HOUM has appeared."
His voice had lost its previous cool and playful tone, leaving his listeners somewhat surprised. They all got up, and even though nobody had answered his initial question, Sai asked again.
"A HOUM? Hey, Jaden, what's going on?"
"No time to explain all the details now. Just do what Ken said, and do it quickly. We'll explain everything once this is over." Jaden replied urgently, his expression very serious and determined, not wanting to waste another second for his friends.
"Big brother." Richy whispered, seeing an expression he had rarely seen on his big brother's face.
But Kenzo reassured him, "Don't worry, your big brother will be fine, and I'll be with him. I'm a hero, remember? It's just that if you're here, things might get complicated, so trust us, okay?"
"Okay," Richy replied, feeling somewhat reassured, before the three of them started running toward the park's exit.
Right after they had disappeared, the HOUM appeared. It was a HOUM with light gray skin, standing about two meters tall.
It had red eyes radiating great fierceness and hostility. There was a kind of energy that seemed to oppose that of the CREDHOS emanating from the HOUM.
"A middle-class level C HOUM." Jaden said, looking very concerned after analyzing the smooth body of the HOUM.
On the other hand, his teammate was jubilant.
"Haha, what's better to make this day even more memorable than killing my first middle-class level C HOUM!?" Kenzo exclaimed joyfully after also noticing that it was a middle-class level C HOUM.
For Kenzo, this day was one of the best in his entire life. He had never had so much fun, never eaten so many different things.
He was with people his age who truly considered him a friend. He had learned new things, like Jaden's fear of heights or that he was terrible with bows.
He thought back to this wonderful day and other great moments in his life when he gazed at the stars with the others.
Kenzo knew that this day would be forever etched in his heart. He would ensure, by eliminating as many HOUM as possible, that many more people could experience such moments.
However, the arrival of this HOUM added the heroic touch that would make the day legendary. He could already imagine explaining the first time he had killed a middle-class level C HOUM.
Without waiting, he lunged at the HOUM, leaving Jaden speechless. He delivered a powerful right punch to the HOUM's abdomen, which had placed its hands in an X shape to block the punch.
Immediately after the punch landed, he followed up with a spinning kick to the same spot, causing the HOUM to stagger backward.
Kenzo continued his assault on the HOUM, who was struggling to regain balance, and swept him off his feet by crouching and making a circular motion. With the HOUM defenseless on the ground, Jaden jumped and landed with his right fist on the HOUM's frightening face.
There was a sound akin to a balloon popping, but once the dust had settled, the HOUM stood up without a scratch, darkening Jaden's expression. He began to think immediately.
'What was that sensation? It felt like his body was a sponge.' Jaden thought somberly, reflecting on what he had felt when he had struck the HOUM.
He turned to Kenzo and asked, "Did you feel that too, Ken? I think our blows didn't affect him at all."
"Yeah, he's from the Absorber family." Kenzo replied.
"I see." Jaden responded.
After the meeting in the Conclave Chamber, Jaden didn't spend all his time training; he also studied the different categories of HOUM. Absorbers were HOUMs that were nearly invincible barehanded because they could somehow absorb blows.
What was worse about them was that absorption seemed to come naturally to those in this category, as they also possessed their own affinities, which this HOUM hadn't yet used.
'This fight might not be very easy.' Jaden thought, considering their opponent's abilities.
While he was lost in thought, Kenzo's ambitious voice rang out once again. "I think today I'll see what someone with an affinity for the very world can do."
"You'd wish, but I think I'll be the one seeing the hero in—" However, before Jaden could finish his sentence, his intuition prompted him to step to the right, which he did without hesitation.
He had learned from Rush never to doubt his intuition. Just after he moved, a punch struck the spot where he had been standing moments ago.
He had no time to catch his breath because immediately afterward, the HOUM delivered a kick towards his ribs.
Jaden bent his left arm as if he were raising a boxing guard and positioned the upper part of his arm to receive the kick that was supposed to hit his ribs. The kick was so powerful that it sent Jaden rolling several meters despite his reflexes and quick defense.
"Uh... fast!" Jaden exclaimed in pain and alertness. He had barely had time to react to the HOUM's attacks, which seemed effortless.
'He's too fast, and his strike seems burning. Is this what they mean by an exception?' Exceptions were, in a way, the cream of the crop among HOUMs at their level, and they were all exceptionally tough to fight.
While he was pondering all of this, Kenzo asked, "Jaden, are you okay?" with a concerned look, as he had seen that the HOUM's strike was incredibly powerful – he would likely have coughed up blood in Jaden's place.
"Hey, this HOUM is really strong. I think we need to give it our all." Kenzo added, knowing that it was a stroke of luck that Jaden could still fight. As he said this, flames surrounded his fists, resembling gauntlets, but on fire.
"Yeah, right, you're asking us to give it our all and then you go using the universal form of your flames?" Jaden retorted with a smirk.
In the current world, CREDHOS possessed abilities called affinities, allowing them to manipulate elements such as light or fire.
Each CREDHOS had a basic mastery of all elements called universal affinity. However, it was nearly impossible to master all these elements perfectly, and it had been observed that each member tended to excel at one specific element, hence the name elemental affinity.
Mastering an element wasn't as straightforward as it seemed. For those who mastered fire, for example, they could generate heat, extract oxygen or any other chemically related element from any substance, which provided a wide range of possibilities within a single affinity.
This resulted in individuals with significantly different levels of abilities within the same affinity.
Jaden stood up, suddenly emanating an aggressive and wild aura, resembling a hungry lion spotting its prey. After regaining his composure, Jaden turned his head towards the HOUM and said. "I hope you're ready, Hero." He received nothing but a smile filled with confidence and assurance from Kenzo, demonstrating his readiness for what was about to happen.